Mets take sixth straight by rallying for 6-3 win over Nationals

Chuck Myers/MCTMets second baseman Justin Turner connects on an RBI single in the third inning against the Washington Nationals at Nationals Park in Washington tonight.

WASHINGTON — Six games ago, after his team trudged through another defeat, R.A. Dickey carried a hard-luck loss into the Mets clubhouse. Surrounded by reporters, his locker morphed into a bully pulpit as Dickey issued a gentle challenge.

Stop waiting for the tides of this season to shift, he implored his teammates, then losers of seven consecutive games. Do something to change the momentum.

A week later, with Dickey again on the mound, the Mets (11-13) demonstrated some semblance of that directive in a 6-3 victory over Washington (10-13) in front of 13,568 fans at Nationals Park. Granted a chance to slink away defeated, the team responded with a late-game deluge of runs to keep their six-game winning streak alive.

“I think what you’ve seen in the last four or five games has been a microcosm of what I was trying to talk about,” said Dickey, who allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings before the fireworks began.

After a brisk opening, the final two innings provided a burst of life. In the eighth inning, a blown call at third base prompted a fit of rage from shortstop Jose Reyes. Called from the bench, Daniel Murphy delivered a sudden shock with a game-tying homer in the next at-bat.

The next inning, with that tie blown and their winning streak due to Mets mistakes in jeopardy, the lineup overwhelmed Washington closer Sean Burnett for four-run onslaught. Success spread through the bottom of the roster: Willie Harris loaded the bases with a bunt. Seldom-used infielder Chin-lung Hu tied the game with a sac fly, catcher Josh Thole put his team ahead and a two-run double from Murphy salted the game away.

“Each and every guy contributed to that game tonight,” manager Terry Collins said.

Call it coincidence, a serendipitous blend of stabilized luck and substandard competition, but after Dickey spoke from his heart, the Mets have not lost. They have played a brand of baseball that once appeared foreign. And they absorbed all the drama of tonight’s eighth inning, roaring back with a deluge.

With one out in the eighth, shortstop Jose Reyes smashed the ball past center fielder Rick Ankiel. He jetted into third, slowing his momentum as he slid head-first into the bag. Washington’s Jerry Hairston, Jr. dragged a tag along his arm. Reyes looked up, figuring he was safe.

His mouth opened in shock, eyes alight as third-base umpire Marvin Hudson pumped his fist. Reyes had just signaled timeout. Instead, Hudson indicated Reyes was out. His hand had never left the bag. Reyes erupted.

He slammed his helmet into the dirt and leapt toward Hudson. Third-base coach Chip Hale boxed Reyes out, then swallowed him in a bear hug as Collins butted in to argue. Reyes stomped and flailed against Hale before heading into the dugout.

“He was livid,” Murphy said.

“I went a little crazy there,” Reyes said.

“Judging on that reaction,” Bay said. “I’m pretty sure he stayed on the base.”

Inside the dugout, he threw a water cooler that sprayed Jason Bay. As he worked off his anger, Murphy stepped in against former Yankee Tyler Clippard. With the count full, he crushed a hanging changeup into Washington’s bullpen in right field.

The bottom of the frame would not be smooth, first baseman Adam LaRoche lofted a fly ball toward shallow left field. Bay failed to make a sliding grab and Murphy failed to cover second base. LaRoche scored the go-ahead run moments later. But that tally would not hold.

“These guys, they think they can win,” Collins said. “They think they can win now. They don’t stop.”